With Akimoto not wanting Miki on the feet, the bout unfolded mostly
on the mat, where both fighters frequently traded dominant
position. Starting with Miki on top dropping punches, Akimoto
baited his opponent into taking the back by rolling to evade
punishment. Once Miki was latched on, Akimoto grasped his
opponent’s arm for control, using it as leverage to twist into
guard for the reversal, where he rained down punches of his
own.

With both fighters nullifying and countering each other’s efforts,
it was Miki who pulled ahead with his frenetic pace. Landing big
shots while standing and using flying-punch guard passes, Miki was
able to convince two of the judges to give him the nod with scores
of 30-28 and 30-27. A third official saw the contest split at
29-29.

Proving that stubbornness pays, Taisuke
Okuno defeated Yoichiro
Sato in a crowd-rousing slugfest. Though Sato had no answer for
the Gutsman Shooto Dojo fighter’s kicks, Okuno inexplicably started
throwing and missing wild punches instead of pursuing body and leg
kicks. Sato used this tactical lapse to tag Okuno with a number of
solid counterpunches, stuffing his desperate takedowns between fits
of swinging and gassing.

Okuno was lucky to score a knockdown midway through the second
period however, evening things up before standing toe-to-toe with
Sato until the bell. All three judges scored the bout for Okuno
(19-17, 20-18 and 19-18).

Daiji
Takahashi and Seiji "Oz"
Otsuka split a round apiece for a unanimous draw, as all three
judges saw the contest 19-19. With Otsuka looking to be the better
grappler in the first frame, Takahashi rallied in the second to
show that he was no slouch, controlling the takedowns and top
position much like Otsuka had in the opening period.

Daniel Herbertson/Sherdog.com

Guy Delemeau (left) outslugged
Hisaki Hiraishi

Sakae
Kasuya took a safe decision over Hidenori
Nishino, wearing him down with takedowns and short punches from
on top en route to collecting scores of 20-19 (twice) and
19-19.

Perennial B-classer Ayumu
Shioda racked up another win after two rounds of doing what he
does best. Tying Kenji
Hosoya up in the clinch and taking the mount and back position
in both rounds, Shioda took a solid unanimous decision as each
judge offered a score of 20-18.

In a striking battle, Taiki
Tsuchiya took potshots on Daisuke
Matsumoto until a beautiful right hook dropped his opponent.
Tsuchiya immediately followed with two more knockdown blows -- a
left hook and a hard knee to the face during a scramble – which
forced the referee to call the contest at 4:57 of the first.

“Heat” Takeshi Sato
used his longer limbs to climb up Nozomi
Otsuka’s back and cinch the rear-naked choke. Sato tried to
fight the submission for some time, but ultimately tapped after the
catch was called at 2:41 of the opening stanza.

Despite a lopsided decision for Guy
Delemeau, the 154-pound Hawaiian transplant took as many shots
as he delivered in his war with Hisaki
Hiraishi. Good body and inside-leg knees in the clinch, along
with two winging right hooks for knockdowns put him far ahead of
Hiraishi by the bout’s end. The judges’ tally read 20-17 (twice)
and 20-16.